ATLANTA - For Christopher McGee, getting the HOPE scholarship meant he could afford Georgia State University.

But state lawmakers are eyeing cuts to the cash-strapped scholarship program that has paid for more than 1 million Georgians to get a higher education - meaning McGee and other students across the state may have to pay thousands of dollars more for college. The 19-year-old from College Park said he'll likely increase the hours he works at his part-time job as a file clerk at an Atlanta law firm and decrease his class load to help make up the difference.

Newton County has hundreds of millions of dollars in road projects it wants to complete over the next several years, but it must choose $17.28 million worth of projects to complete with SPLOST funds if the 2011 SPLOST is passed in March.

Alexander Quinlan, a student at the Montessori School of Covington, has been accepted into the People to People World Leadership Forum.

Alexander will join a select group of students in Washington, D.C., next week to study leadership and explore the city's monuments and institutions. Stops will include Capitol Hill, the Smithsonian Institution, Mount Vernon and the National Museum of American History, according to a release.

First-time unemployment benefit filings increased 11.9 percent in January from the previous month in Metro Atlanta, according to information released Wednesday from State Labor Commissioner Mark Butler.